investments yields 4%. that's twice the amount of rate of return than the current social security trust. it's a fundamental difference of opinion here, folks. younger worker after younger worker hears my call that says i trust you. and you know what, the issue is changing. seniors now understand that the promise made will be a promise kept, but younger workers now understand we better have a government that trusts them and that's exactly what i'm going to do. >> could i respond to that, jim? this is a big issue. could we do another round on it? >> we're almost out of time. >> just briefly. when fdr established social security, they didn't call them ious, they called it the full faith and credit of the united states. if you don't have trust in that, i do. if you take it out of the surplus in the trust fund, that means the trust fund goes bankrupt in this generation within 20 years. >> this is a government that thinks a 2% rate of return on your money is satisfactory. it's not.

this is a government that says younger workers can't possibly have their own assets. we need to think differently about the issue. we need to make sure our seniors get the promise made. if we don't trust younger workers to manage some of their own money with the social security surplus, to grow from $1 trillion to $3 trillion, it will be impossible to bridge the gap without it. what mr. gore's plan will do causing huge payroll taxes or major benefit reductions. >> new question. are there issues of character that distinguish you from vice president gore? >> the man loves his wife and i appreciate that a lot. and i love mine. the man loves his family a lot, and i appreciate that, because i love my family. i think the thing that discouraged me about the vice president was uttering those famous words, "no controlling legal authority." i felt like there needed to be a better sense of responsibility of what was going on in the white house.

i believe that -- i believe they've moved that sign, "the buck stops here" from the oval office desk to "the buck stops here" on the lincoln bedroom. it's not good for the country and it's not right. we need to have a new look about how we conduct ourselves in office. there's a huge trust. i see it all the time when people come up to me and say, i don't want you to let me down again. and we can do better than the past administration has done. it's time for a fresh start. it's time for a new look. startime for a fresh after a season of cynicism. and so i don't know the man well, but i've been disappointed about how he and his administration have conducted the fundraising affairs. you know, going to a buddhist temple and then claiming it wasn't a fundraiser isn't my view of responsibility. >> vice president gore? >> i think we ought to attack

our country's problems, not attack each other. i want to spend my time making this country even better than it is, not trying to make you out to be a bad person. you may want to focus on scandal. i want to focus on results. as i said a couple of months ago, i stand here as my own man and i want you to see me for who i really am. tipper and i have been married for 30 years. we became grandparents a year- and-a-half ago. we've got four children. i have devoted 24 years of my life to public service and i've said this before and i'll say it again, if you entrust me with the presidency, i may not be the most exciting politician, but i will work hard for you every day. i will fight for middle-class families and working men and women and i will never let you down. >> so, governor, what are you saying when you mention the fundraising scandals or the fundraising charges that involve vice president gore?

what are you saying that the voters should take from that that's relevant to this election? >> they ought to factor in it when they go to the voting booth. >> in what way? >> i think people need to be held responsible for the actions they take in life. i think that -- well, i think that's part of the need for a cultural change. we need to say we each need to be responsible for what we do. people in the highest office of the land must be responsible for decisions they make in life. and that's the way i've conducted myself as governor of texas and that's the way i'll conduct myself as president of the united states, should i be fortunate enough to earn your vote. >> are you saying all this is irrelevant, vice president gore? >> no.

i think the american people should take into account who we are as individuals, what our experience is, what our positions are on the issues and proposals are. i'm asking you to see me for who i really am. i'm offering you my own vision, my own experience, my own proposals. and incidentally, one of them is this. this current campaign financing system has not reflected credit on anybody in either party. and that's one of the reasons i've said before, and i'll pledge here tonight, if i'm president, the very first bill that joe lieberman and i will send to the united states congress is the mccain-feingold campaign finance reform bill. thathe reason it's important is that all of the other issues, whether prescription drugs for all seniors that are opposed by the drug companies or the patient's bill of rights to take the decisions away from the hmos and give them to the doctors and nurses, opposed by the hmos and insurance companies, all these other proposals are going to be a lot easier to get passed for the american people if we limit the influence of special interest money and give democracy back to the american people. and i wish governor bush would join me this evening in endorsing the mccain-feingold campaign finance reform bill.

>> you know, this man has no credibility on the issue. as a matter of fact, i read in the "new york times" where he said he co-sponsored the mccain-feingold campaign fundraising bill. but he wasn't in the senate with senator feingold. and so, look, i'm going to -- what you need to know about me is i will uphold the law, i'm going to have an attorney general that enforces the law. the time for campaign funding reform is after the election. this man has outspent me and the special interests are outspending me. and i am not going to lay down my arms in the middle of the campaign for somebody who has got no credibility on the issue. >> senator mccain -- hold on one second. senator mccain said in august, "it doesn't matter which one of you is president of the united states in january, there is going to be blood on the floor of the united states senate," and he'll tie up the senate until campaign finance reform is passed that includes a ban on soft money. first of all, would you support that effort by him, or would you sign a bill that is finally

passed that included -- >> i would support an effort to ban corporate soft money and labor union soft money so long as there was dues check-off. sinceampaigned on this the primaries. i believe there needs to be instant disclosure on the internet as to who has given to who. i think we need to fully enforce the law. i think we need to have an attorney general that says if a law is broken, we'll enforce it. be strict and firm about it. >> look, governor bush, you have attacked my character and credibility and i am not going to respond in kind. i think we ought to focus on the problems and not attack each other. one of the serious problems, hear me well, is that our system of government is being undermined by too much influence coming from special interest money. we have to get a handle on it. and like john mccain, i have

learned from experience, and it's not a new position for me. 24 years ago i supported full public financing of all federal elections. and anybody who thinks i'm just saying it, it will be the first bill i send to the congress. i want you to know i care passionately about this and i will fight until it becomes law. >> i want people to hear what he just said. he is for full public financing of congressional elections. i'm absolutely, adamently opposed to that. i don't want the government financing congressional elections. >> on that wonderful note of disagreement, we have to stop here and we want to go now to your closing statements. governor bush is first. you have two minutes. >> thank you, jim. thank the university of massachusetts and mr. vice president, thank you. it has been a good, lively exchange. there is a huge difference of opinion. mine is i want to empower people in their own lives. i also want to go to washington to get some positive things done.

it is going to require a new spirit. a spirit of cooperation. it will require the ability of a republican president to reach out across the partisan divide and to say to democrats, let's come together to do what is right for america. it's been my record as governor of texas, it will be how i conduct myself if i'm fortunate enough to earn your vote as president of the united states. i want to finally get something done on medicare. i want to make sure prescription drugs are available for all seniors. and i want seniors to have additional choices when it comes to choosing their health care plans. i want to finally get something done on social security. i want to make sure the seniors have the promise made will be a promise kept, but i want younger workers to be able to manage some of their own money, some of their own payroll taxes in the private sector under certain guidelines to get a better rate of return on your own money. i want to rebuild our military to keep the peace. i want to have a strong hand when it comes to the united states in world affairs. i don't want to try to put our troops in all places at all times. i don't want to be the world's

policeman, i want to be the world's peacemaker by having a military of high morale and a military that is well-equipped. i want anti-ballistic missile systems to protect ourselves and our allies from a rogue nation that may try to hold us hostage or blackmail our allies and friends. i want to make sure the education system fulfills its hope and promise. i've had a strong record of working with democrats and republicans in texas to make sure no child is left behind. i understand the limited role of the federal government, but it could be a constructive role when it comes to reform, by insisting that there be a strong accountability systems. my intentions are to earn your vote and earn your confidence. i'm asking for your vote. i want you to be on my team. and for those of you working, thanks from the bottom of my heart. for those of you making up your mind, i would be honored to have your support. >> vice president gore, two minutes. >> i want to thank everybody who watched and listened tonight because this is indeed a crucial time in american history. we're at a fork in the road. we have this incredible prosperity, but a lot of people have been left behind. and we have a very important decision to make. will we use the prosperity to enrich all of our families and not just a few?

indeed a crucial time in american history. we're at a fork in the road. we have this incredible prosperity, but a lot of people have been le we have a very important decision to make. will we use the prosperity to enrich all of our families and not just the few? mportant way of looking at this is to ask who are you going to fight for? throughout my career in public service i have fought for the working men and women of this country, middle class families. why? because you are the ones who have the hardest time paying taxes, the hardest time making ends meet. you are the ones who are making car payments, mortgage payments, and doing right by your kids and a lot of times there powerful forces arrayed against you and make no mistake about it, they do have undue influence in washington, d.c. and it makes a difference if you have a president who will fight for you. i know one thing about the position of president. it's the only position in our

constitution that's filled by an individual whos given the responsibility to fight not just for one state or one district or the well-connected or wealthy but to fight for all of the people, including especially those who most need someboill stand up and take on whatever powerful forces mightn the way. there's woman named winifred skinner here tonight from iowa. she's 79 years old. she has social security. i'm not going to her benefits or support any proposal that. in order to pay for her prescription drug benefits she has to go out seven days a week, several hours a day picking up cans. in a trailer with her poodle in order to attend tonight and i want to tell her i am going to fight for a prescript benefit for all seniors and going to fight for the people of this country for eye -- i

prosperity that benefits all. dialogue next week, october 11 at wake forest university in salem, north carolina. the format will be more informal and conversational. the third will be october 17 at louis. that will follow a town hall type format. also ahead the day after tomorrow, october 5 there's the 90-minute debat between senator joe lieberman and dick cheney. it will be held at center college in danville, kentucky. the moderator will be bernard shaw of cnn. thank u,nor bush and vice president gore. from boston, i'll jim lehrer. thank you and good night.

[applause] [captions performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] 6 >> see the presidential debate. next, vice president biden campaigns in florida. then vice-presidential candidate paul ryan speaks at ai rally in new hampshire. after that, the 1984

presidential debate between ronald reagan and walter mondale. >> tomorrow on "washington journal" two presidential candidates cake cake your calls and questions. jill stein from the green party, and the author of "party matters," virgil goode. >> it is the number one priority, and it is the most untouchable thing. that is going to cause more trouble than any other prop problem we have currently in the united states. getting medicare costs under control is the number one thing. >> you say we also surcharge

smokers? >> yes. >> for their medicare coverage. where did you get that idea? >> it came from us. i'm the person that put it in the memo, but i didn't have to fight very hard for it. i have been accused of being incensetive, which i guess i probably am. i mean, i'm not really a democrat, but i'm certainly similar to the democrats in that thinking. if you have it, someone has to pay for it.

>> we're not the only ones making arguments like this. the task force that was headed by leiberman and dome chi said we -- domenichi said we need to do something about obese. also, we need restrictions on end of life decisions. these are difficult decisions. >> discussing the economy sunday at 8:00 on c-span's "q & a." >> now, vice president joe biden speaks in fort myers, florida, part of his two-day tour in this battleground state. this is 40 minutes. ♪

>> it's good to see you all! it's great to be with you all. god love you. all right. thank you very much. thank you. thank you all so very, very

much. it is great to be back in fort myers. i tell you what, i was joking, a man should always have a brother-in-law that lives in florida, and two, a brother-in-law with a pick-up truck. so all these years my brother has lived in fort myers, and i got to come down here all the time. then he sold his place here, and i haven't spoken to him since. no, i'm only kidding. i'm only kidding. since i've been here -- do you mind if i take my coat off? thank you very much. all right. i got here and i was introduced to jamie, i thought jamie was my

sister-in-law. she looks like my sister-in-law more than you can imagine. but thank you for the hard work you have done, and all of you for being here on a saturday morning. folks, look, i want to get right to it here with you all. the fact of the matter is, you know as well as i do, this country is facing the starkest choice for president that we have faced at least in my memory. now that governor romney has made it official -- i might add, they are both decent men. they are both good family men. no, no, no. i don't neeth need your "boos," we need your help. [cheers and applause] i have a bad reputation of being straight and telling you what i

think, and sometimes all that i think. but look, folks, all kidding aside, by picking paul ryan, what governor romney has done is he has given clear definition to all those vague assertions he was making during his primary campaign. he talked a lot about a lot of the things that paul ryan talked about, but never in any detail. but by picking paul ryan and laying out why he picked paul ryan, he picked paul ryan because paul ryan does represent the ideological -- how do i say it? the center of the republican party. he said, basically, that's why i'm picking paul ryan. now we don't have to guess about what governor romney meands means when he says things about medicare, social security, and all these things. it is almost like two incumbents

running. because paul ryan, and i mean this sincerely, paul ryan introduced the ren republican budget in the house of representatives, sold by the republicans, that in fact lays out in stark detail what they would do on everything from medicare to medicaid to social security to education to the debt. i mean, across the board. so we don't have to wonder anymore. we don't have to wonder any more what governor romney means when he says a, b, c, or d. what they are doing these days, if you noticed, they are not talking anymore about what paul ryan and mitt romney are for. they are spending a lot of time telling you what we are against and what we have done. they have attacked everything. folks, the truth of the matter is, nowhere is it more clear

what they would do than in medicare. let me start off talking about -- let me give you a few specific examples to make a larger point. number one, they have laid out clearly, they say, that what barack obama and joe biden h have done, they have endangered medicare. they have stole moneyy. you have seen the ads. nothing could be further from the truth. every one of you in this room that's on medicare or knows someone, a mom or dad, who is on medicare, knows that since barack obama acted, your parents have and your parents on medicare have more. [cheers and applause] any of you on medicare know, that not only did you hit that doughnut hole where you have to pay all the prescriptions, you

are saving $800 a year more than you would had barack not acted. number two, you can go in for that unscheduled visit you didn't think you would need. you don't need to pay a co-pay. you don't need a co-pay for things like colonoscopies and mammograms. [cheers and applause] it is just a bold-faced misrepresentation. i don't know how they can say that with so many medicare recipients saying they are better off. the thing most people don't know is that the action the president has taken has strengthened the medicare trust fund and extended its life up to 2024. that was never there before. [cheers and applause] so i say to those -- you might see this on television or read

this in a newspaper. ask yourself if what the republicans -- if what romney and ryan are saying about obama and biden is true on medicare, why would the american medical association endorse our position? why would the national american hospital association? and most importantly, why would aarp endorse our program? [cheers and applause] they have no credibility. they have no credibility on this issue. secondly, what they don't tell you, equally as important as what they do tell you, what they would do on medicare. the first thing they would do, if they took the actions they are proposing to take were they to win in january of next year, you would eliminate the new benefit. $800 more for prescripping drugs, wellness visits, co-pays, et cetera. it would also move medicare

trust fund to insol conveniencey -- this -- it would also move medicare trust fund to insolvency in 2016. they also don't want to tell you they are for medicare. they are for high-cost voucher care. they say it won't won't affect anyone on medicare now. it won't kick in for 10 years. but if you are 55 years old, it is going to kick in. here's what they do. first, a couple years ago, the intellectual gravemen of the right presented a proposal. ryan, in the house of representatives, saying that we're going to give moms and dads a voucher. and that voucher is essentially a chip worth x amount of dollars. they are going to be able to go out there and buy private insurance or buy back in to medicare if they want.

the problem is, there is not enough money to get the same coverage. so what happened? they call the congressional budget office. they call it c.b.o. everybody acknowledges they are an honest broker. they came along and said, they are going to cost seniors who are 55 years old now, it is going to cost them an additional $6,500 a year more to get the same benefits they have now. now they say to us, we do not have that plan anymore. guess what. they have a message for the american people. mit romney said at the time, were he president e. would sign it into law. sign into law that you all come up with $6,400 a year more for

the same benefits. now they say to us, oh, no, no, no, no. joe, we don't have that plan anymore. guess what? they got a message from the american people. they say, we got a new plan. new plan. that's going to work better and save medicare. that plan, though, a harvard study comes out and says, that new plan, still a voucher, would cost somebody 55 years old right now by the time they have been on it $60,000 a year more over the life of medicare. ladies and gentlemen, the reason i bother to tell you this is, the fact of the matter is, it goes to motive. it goes to motive. can you imagine me voting for a fwopes proposal adding $6,400 a year to the cost of medicare or

$60,000 over the life of it? where i come from, that --the name of a i come from, that would mean the people getting medicare would not be able to hit hit medicare. they would not get nearly the and it is they have now. i do not know anybody who has an extra $6,400 a year for health care when they are seniors. [cheers and applause] >> can you imagine president barack obama putting forth a plan that says it will cost another $60,000? ladies and gentlemen, they also sat there at the convention. it is amazing how they talked about the urgency to get the national debt under control. remember that big clock in the back? they said, we realize the president was handed a difficult situation. we realize that. but, you know, he hasn't done

much with it. and here's what he hasn't done. and we are ready to act urgently on the national debt. ladies and gentlemen, let's not look just at what they say, let's look at what they do. a couple things they don't tell you is,the last time they were in charge, congressman ryan voted 4 and governor romney said he agreed with all of the things that were done last time around. last time around is what caused this national debt? how did this happen? when clinton left, we had a balanced budget in the surplus and things were looking good. [cheers and applause] what happened? what happened? they talk about this great recession that they acknowledge ss if it fell from the sky. like oh, my god, in september 2008, bang, all of a sudden this thing happened!

ladies and gentlemen, as my little granddaughter would say, who did it, pop? casper the ghost? come on, let's get serious here. ladies and gentlemen, they put two wars on a credit card, not paying a penny. not paying a penny although i put legislation to pay for those two wars. the voted for a new entitlement program without paying one penny for it. number three, they added another trillion dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy. what was the result? these are the facts. by the time the reigns got turned back tobarack obama and me, they had double the national deat in eight years. the fourth, fifth, or six days we were in office, we were sitting in the oval office at

sunset, and we were informed, mr. president, looking at this year's budget you are going to have a trillion dollars deficit. he said, "i haven't done anything yet." [laughter] he said, no, mr. president, the budget they passed in october of last year guarantees that no matter what you do, you will have a trillion dollar deficit this year in the budget. ladies and gentlemen, these guys talk about the national debt. what date did generated the slowest growth in private-sector jobs since world war ii. it gave us this great recession. what they have not told us is that they have been unwilling to do anything about it. here's the deal, folks. we laid out a $4 trillion debt

reduction plan over the next 10 years. we have already passed $1 trillion of it. ladies and gentlemen, these guys vote against everything. no, no, no. i really mean it. not only do they say they don't like our plan, so you say, what's your plan? you go out there and you look at the setup. an impressive bipartisan commission. simpson-bowles. domenichi's. every one of those plans they voted against. paul ryan even voted against the simpson-bowles plan as a member of the commission. he would not let it get to the united states congress to vote on. why? because they will not voted for a single solitary reduction in the debt if it includes $1 in new taxes for millionaires.

not even one dollar. that is the fact. [audience: boo] i do not need your boos. i need your votes and organization. [cheers and applause] i love how they bleat over the national debt. they are so concerned about it now. mitt romney, when asked if he had a plan to reduce the national debt if it included $10 in reduction of federal spending and $1 in the reduction of the debt, he said no. this is not on the level. these guys are not about to vote to reduce the national debt or have a plan if it requires millionaires to pay a cent. the amazing thing is that they are concerned. what is even more amazing, i watched at their convention, is that they have discovered the middle class. it was like, my god, there's a

middle class. there it is. there it is. i never heard those guys use the phrase "middle class" more probably in their whole lives than they did at that convention. they talked about the concerns. the neighborhood that i come from, people with four kids, three-bedroom houses, you know, regular normal neighborhoods. they talked about how they really are concerned about education and health care and they go down the list. and my god, god love them, we used to have an expression. whever whenever they come up and say, joe, joe, i tell you what i value. my father would say, don't tell me what you value. show me your budget, i'll tell you what you value. [cheers and applause]

let's take a look at how much they value the middle-class. let's take a vote. they have already passed one in the house of representatives, the one embraced by governor romney. look what its done. i care about the middle class, but i'm going to cut 19 million people off medicare. a lot of people say, that is all poor folks. a million of those people are seniors. a vast majority of those folks are in the middle class who had to go out and sell everything they had first in order to get into a living room. the only reason they are able to get into a nursing home is because of something called the

dual eligible. where do you expect those folks to go? ladies and gentlemen, they say they care about education. they knocked 200,000 kids out of early education. they eliminated $1,000 of a pell grant. we went from six million kids in college now from working class families, and god only knows what that would mean, how many that would drop out. and for those of you that have kids now, one thing that could help is the $2,500 tax credit we give you off the bottom line. they wiped that out. [cheers and applause] so much more i will not take the time to tell you in this hot gym. but let me ask you this, folks. you have to ask yourself a question. why are they doing this? because they have to. let me tell you why they have to. there is no way to accommodate

the more than $2 trillion in tax cuts for people making a minute minimum mum of $1 million a year if they don't do it. it awe all just -- it all just adds to the deficit. they have to get out there. this is all for the service of prospects for the super wealthy. where i come from, we have one of the highest per capita incomes in the entire nation. one thing i found out is, very wealthy people are just as patriotic as forefolks. they are just as decent. but guess what, they are not even asking for these types of cuts. let me give you an example. by spending the bush tax cuts for the wealthy, here is what happened.

$500 billion goes to 120,000 families. $500 billion. a half a trillion dollars. how can that be right? the average income of those folks is $8.4 million a year. they don't need a tax cut. guess what? middle class feasms need a hand . they need -- middle class families need a hand up. they need a little help. [cheers and applause] they voted against extending the middle class tax cuts permanently. why? they were holding it hostage so they could continue the tax cuts i just mentioned. on top of it, and it almost sounds unbelievable, but on top of it, romney adds another tax cut. the total cost to the economy $1.7 trillion.

but guess what? it is $250,000 a year in additional tax cuts to those same 120,000 families and anybody that makes more than $1 million. ladies and gentlemen, all this has a cost. there is something called the tax policy center made up of experts. they did an analysis if they did all of these tax proposals. they point out that if romney ryan were elected, it would increase taxes by middle-class families by $2,000 a year. ladies and gentlemen, we have seen this movie before. we have seen this movie before. massive tax cuts for the very wealthy, letting wall street and big banks writing their own rules again. we know how it ended.

it ended in a catastrophe for the middle class. ladies and gentlemen, i am telling you today, we will not go back to that. [cheers and applause] we can't go back to that policy. america can't afford to go back to that policy! ladies and gentlemen, the president and i have a different way forward. let me tell you what our plan is. in addition, we have created over five million private-sector jobs. 5.1 million since we got in office. our plan to continue this is made of four parts. one, we are going to create new manufacturing jobs in this country in the next four years. we will level the playing field by continuing to get china and

other countries that undercut american jobs. we're going to do it by giving tax breaks to companies that bring tax breaks back to america, not companies that take factories out of america. we are going to continue to knock down those barriers that exist around the world saying no american goods here. we are going to level the playing field. and guess what, folks, as i go around the world -- i have traveled over 600,000 miles since i have been vice president -- people are looking to buy the best products. and those products have "made in america" stamped on them. if we knock it down, they will buy it. [cheers and applause] we are going to cut our oil

imports in half by 2020, produce more american-made energy from oil, natural gas, clean coal, biofuel. ladies and gentlemen, a lot of people do not understand this. i love to hear them talk about their energy policy -- which is drill, baby, drill. let me tell you something. you all realize there are more gas and oil rigs pumping today than all the rest of the rigs in the entire rest of the world. do you know that? that's a fact. that's why we are importing less than we have in decades. that's why we are in the position we are moving into. ladies and gentlemen, there is an exponential supply of natural gas if done right and

renewable energy available in this country. the voted against it. we doubled the fuel economy standards for cars and trucks by 2025. [cheers and applause] by the way, that will save 12 billion barrels of oil over the period of time. i do not know how they do not think conservation is part of it. they sure don't know it. right now, there is a study pointing out the most productive workers in the world are american workers. they are three times as productive as our friends in china. ladies and gentlemen, we want to make sure we have the most productive best educated and best trained workers in the world. that is why we have trained more than 1,000 math and science teachers. we needed that. we want to recruit these folks

to our community colleges. we know we can create two million american workers and give them the skills for the high-tech manufacturing companies in the future. there are 600,000 jobs in america in tech today. that is why we paired up with community colleges, creating thousands and thousands of decent paying jobs, but they oppose it. [applause] we are not only going to continue to provides grants and tuition for after high school education, but we are going to cut the growth of college tuition in half. [cheers and applause] we have already reduced the deficit. in four years, we will reduce it by another $1 trillion. there is an easy way to do this. we have to make some difficult decisions.

we have to ask the very wealthy to pay more. ladies and gentlemen, we are going to end the war in afghanistan as we did in iraq. [cheers and applause] and in the process, over the next decade, save over $800 million. we're going to come home with that money and put half of it down to reduce the debt and half of it to rebuild america! [cheers and applause] roads, bridges, schools. that will support millions over time. initially, tens of thousands of new, good paying, decent jobs that you can raise a family on. folks, one more thing. in this country, we only have one truly sacred obligation. we have a lot of obligations to

the elderly, to the young. we only have one truly sacred obligation. that is to equip and support those whom we sent to war and care for them when they come home from war. [cheers and applause] how many of you either have personally served, have a family member serve, or a good friend who served in either iraq or afghanistan? [cheers and applause] ladies and gentlemen, we owe you a debt that i do not think we can ever fully repay. ladies and gentlemen, we owe an incredible debt to those goldstar families. every single day i check, i have

my staff check, and i put in my pocket the number of -- i have been in and out of afghanistan and iraq 20 times. the first time i encountered what i'm going to talk about was early on. i was getting in a c-17 to fly into jordan. i could hear the muffled sounds of footsteps outside. it is a basic c-17 aircraft. the back pulled down and i could hear a young captain say to me, permission to bring a fallen angel aboard. at that time i was a senator. they brought in a flag draped casket. they strapped it to the floor. having a son who spent a year in iraq, all i could think of was the folks waiting at the other end to receive that body.

they refer to anyone who has fallen as "angels ." they call them "fallen angels ." that turned that aircraft into a cathedral. so i ask every day, how many fallen angels? not a general, not an estimate, but an exact number. for every one of those men and women, it has transformed a family. and as of today, we are 6,437 fallen heroes. 49,871 visibly wounded, and tens

of thousands of invisible wounds. post-traumatic stress, to match the brain injury, thousands and thousands critically wounded who will need extensive care for the rest of their lives. those of you of my generation -- i was not in vietnam -- should know the facts. 50% of the young men and women wounded in this war would have died had they received the exact same wounds in vietnam. the good news is they are alive. the good news is they are home. the good news is, with continued, extensive care, 1,800 of them,ith extensive care, extensive, extensive care, they can lead productive lives.

that is our obligation to care for them. not just now, but after the parades are over, after the streets are renamed. we should keep them a priority. we must never forget their sacrifice and always keep them in our care and our prayers. a lot of you who assembled here have been through a lot. you did not lose faith. you fought back. as my dad would say, you have got to. there is no quit in america. [cheers and applause]

ladies and gentlemen, his 47% comment. they talk about -- that's the title of the book, "young guns." they talk about this culture of dependencey in america. without acknowledging that, all those people of that 47%, 82% pay federal taxes. the remainder, 10%, are seniors on social security who don't have to pay, those who don't have to pay taxes. and the other chunk of those right now, right now, over 68,000, who are in battle, who don't have to pay taxes on their pay. so where is this dependence? ladies and gentlemen, the country i know is not a country

not willing to take responsibility, not a country that views itself as williams. romney says he doesn't have to worry about -- what was his quote? it is not my job to worry about those people, half the people in america. when i hear that not just from romney and ryan, but from this new republican party. and by the way, this is not your father's republican party. this is not even mit romney's fathers republican party. it is nothing like it. when they talk about the culture of dependencey, about american decline, i can honestly say i don't recognize the country they are talking about. i don't see it. the american people are so much better, so much stronger, take so much more responsibility than these guys give them credit for. [cheers and applause]

how can governor romney have such a misunderstanding about the people in america? folks i have news for governor romney and paul ryan, america is not in decline, and it has never, ever been a good bet to bet against the american people! they have never let this country down! [cheers and applause] so with your help, we will win florida. with your help, we will represent 100% of the american people, and with your help we will win this election. god bless you all, and may god protect our children! thank you. thank you. [cheers and applause] ♪ as soon as you are able

i am willing to make us think that we are on the brink of but what is on the table a feeling for you to think of so if you're tired of the same old story i'll be here when you are ready to roll with the changes yeah ♪ keep the tables turning

i heard the thunder clapping until you follow me like a sweet shower so if you're tired of the same old story i'll be here when you are ready to roll with the changes ♪ ♪ if you are tired of the same old story

baby i'll be here when you are ready to roll with the changes roll with the changes oh, you know you know you you know you got to keep on rolling oh, yeah keep on rolling for for roll with the changes keep on rolling keep on rolling oh, yeah keep on rolling oh, roll, roll with the changes ♪ ♪ keep on rolling keep on rolling you got to, got to roll with the changes got to got to got to keep on rolling keep on rolling you got to you got to roll you got to roll ♪ snolet

♪ ♪ ♪ keep on

rolling keep on rolling keep on rolling ♪ ♪ keep on rolling keep on rolling ♪ >> now republican vice-presidential candidate paul ryan campaigns in new hampshire at pinkerton academy. a recent washington poll found

mr. obama was their president 5 1% to 41% over mit romney. this is about 40 minutes. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> thank you so much for coming out everybody. thank you so much. thank you so much. thank you pinkerton academy for hosting us here.

let's get our way to prosperity. oil, gas, coal, nuclears, all of the above. the obama administration is standing in the way of what could be an exciting explosion of energy. we have so much coal, so much oil and gas that we know how to

get without harming the environment. this puts people to work, this creates manufacturing jobs. it helps people heat their homes warmer in the winter, coomer in the summer. that means people living on fixed income have more income to live on. this is important because with an energy policy like the keystone pipeline, like opening up our lands for development, we can put americans back to work and stop giving money overseas to the middle east. it helps our foreign policy, it helps our economy, it helps our pay checks. [applause] another area, as i mentioned, you have all these people in between jobs. for every people that got a job last month, which is a good thing, nearly four people have stopped looking for a job. we are slipping behind.

and what we see when we look at the faces, when we talk to the people, when we see the names, it is a person in their 30's, 40's, 50's, early 60's -- i'll get to the people in their 20's in a minute. it is a person that came out of school, got a career, got a good job, and then the factory left. then their job went away. now they don't have anything to replace it with. we need to help people who in the middle of their careers get the skills they need to get the job they want that gives them a career for the 21st century that gives them real economic security. that gives them a better job with better take-home pay so they can provide for their families. we need to clean up our education system. we need to make sure that we don't feed the bureaucracy. that we give people the choice and the resources they need to go to the best schools and the best skills to get their jobs and their life o